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Bulgaria? Beware

British buyers on the Black Sea may have to face some hard facts, says Sarah Marks

It was, many thought, too good an opportunity to miss: a beachfront property on Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast for £30,000. Not just a holiday home, but a cast-iron investment opportunity. Rental income would cover the running costs and mortgage payments, while soaring property prices would guarantee a hefty profit when the flat was cashed in.

That, at least, is the prospect that has been dangled before thousands of British buyers by estate agents and developers during the past few years.

This summer, however, the consequences of Bulgaria’s property boom are beginning to sink in. The frenzy of development has delivered a glut of apartments in Sunny Beach, Golden Sands and a string of other Black Sea resorts and is threatening to do the same in the mountain resorts of Bansko, Pamporovo and Borevets.

Many Britons who bought on promises that they would get rental returns of as much as 10%